Category: 2018

German Red Cross funds renovation of a clinic in Armenia’s Gyumri

Ekmekjian Janet
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 28 2018
German Red Cross funds renovation of a clinic in Armenia’s Gyumri 
          
2018-11-28 13:51:32

In the evening of November 27, President Armen Sarkissian and Mrs. Nouneh Sarkissian visited the headquarters of the German Red Cross in Berlin.

The German Red Cross, which is providing humanitarian assistance all over the world in the areas affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts, started its activities in Armenia in 1988, right after the earthquake in Spitak. The organization actively participated in the rescue works and later, in cooperation with the Armenian Red Cross, provided large-scale and many-sided assistance to the affected population.

President Armen Sarkissian met with the President of the German Red Cross Gerda Hasselfeldt, expressed gratitude for landing a hand at that difficult time for the Armenian people.


 At the meeting with the staff of the organization, President of Armenia, speaking about the devastating earthquake, which took place 30 years ago and its dire consequences, loss of human lives and people who became homeless, noted,

“All that was very sad and tragic, but over these 30 years there have also been very humane, touching stories about human love, care, attention and lack of indifference,” President Sarkissian said, speaking of the earthquake.

“We, those living in Armenia and Armenians all over the world, will never forget warmth, attention, and human attitude which our friends in the world, also from this wonderful country manifested towards Armenia and the Armenian people,” the President said.

“I am here to convey the words of gratitude on my personal behalf and on behalf of the entire Armenian nation,”Armen Sarkissian added.

At the meeting, President Sarkissian handed Armenian state awards and souvenirs to a group of employees of the German Red Cross. For the practical participation and tireless humanitarian activities aimed at the mitigation of the devastating Spitak earthquake, Deputy Secretary General of the German Red Cross Johannes Richter was awarded the Mkhitar Heratsi medal, and German Red Cross representatives Zigrfid Hetmannschperger and Carl-Heinz Scheiden were awarded Medals of Gratitude.

At the conclusion of the event, President of the German Red Cross Gerda Hasselfeldt handed to the spouse of the President, Mrs. Nouneh Sarkissian a certificate for 10 thousand Euros which will be used to renovate the “Berlin” outpatient clinic in Gyumri.

Kocharyan’s attorney: Final court ruling important, not prosecutor general’s opinion

Garnik Zakarian
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 28 2018

The important thing is whether the court will or will not consider the submitted arguments reasonable, not the opinion of Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan or the investigator, second President Robert Kocharyan’s attorney Aram Orbelyan told a briefing on Wednesday.

Earlier today, Davtyan stressed the need to remand the ex-president into custody at the current stage of investigation into the March 1 case.

The attorney expressed hope that the prosecutor general sees real grounds for Kocharyan’s pre-trial detention. 

“The case hasn’t been discussed in essence yesterday. I hope that the prosecutor general sees any grounds. If it turns out that there are no grounds, but he still insists on the motion, I will see issues here,” Orbelyan said.

According to the lawyer, new arguments cannot be submitted to the Court of Appeals, since it is set to check the legitimacy of the First Instance Court ruling. There is also the position expressed by the Court of Cassation, within the framework of which the case must be examined, he said.

Orbelyan also said the prosecutor general or his deputy should have attended the hearings on Kocharyan’s case from the very beginning. 

“It is very strange that they have joined the hearings now, since this is obviously a complicated case,” he said, meantime stressing they do not oppose the presence of a top official from the prosecutor general’s office during the hearings.

Kocharyan has been charged with overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order during the March 1-2, 2008 post-election events in Armenia. He denies the charges as ‘politically motivated’.

Republican candidate challenges Nikol Pashinyan for a debate

Badalian Vardan
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 28 2018

The first vice-president of the Republican Party of Armenia, Vigen Sargsyan, who heads the RPA electoral list, has invited the Acting Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of “My Step” bloc to a debate. He mentioned several conditions.

“Taking into account the fact that for the third consecutive day you are building your campaign against the Republicans, deepening your vicious policy of dividing the society into blacks and whites, as well as the fact that during the campaign you allow the worst and indecent flow of the electoral process, I consider it necessary to have a bilateral debate of the electoral list leaders on RPA – My step format by preserving my commitment to participate in a public debate of the candidates leading the electoral lists of the parties.

I propose to debate through three TV channels (public and one of your and one of my choice), with two presenters (one of your and one of my choice), on 4-6 topics (the half by your, and the half by my choice) with the opportunity to ask each other questions. Taking into account your work overload, I leave the choice of the debate day toyou,” Vigen Sargsyan wrote on his Facebook page.

Robert Kocharyan should be arrested, Armenia’s Prosecutor General says

Jirair Kafian
MediaMax, Armenia
Nov 28 2018
Robert Kocharyan should be arrested, Armenia’s Prosecutor General says

“We find that Robert Kocharyan should be under arrest. However, only the court knows the decision it will make,” Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan stated today.

He said that the charge against Robert Kocharyan cannot be related to carrying out president’s functions.

Armenia: chuzhoy sredi svoikh (a stranger among friends)

David Nargizian
New Eastern Europe
Nov 28 2018


After Yuri Khachaturov, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), was recalled in early November 2018 as a result of governmental changes and criminal investigations against him in his native Armenia, the top position became vacant. The aftermath has exposed on Armenia’s vulnerable position in the organisation.

November 28, 2018 – Rusif Huseynov –

Analysis

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (left) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). Photo: Russian Presidential Executive Office (CC) http://en.kremlin.ru

After Yuri Khachaturov, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), was recalled in early November 2018 as a result of governmental changes and criminal investigations against him in his native Armenia, the top position became vacant. According to the rule, Yerevan could have appointed another representative to fill in the position in order to complete Armenia’s three-year term of the rotating presidency.

However, other CSTO member-states seemed reluctant to accept a substitute for Khachaturov due to the political instability in Armenia as it prepares for snap elections. This reluctance was voiced by the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who claimed that a new Armenian nominee would hardly have sufficient time to visit all CSTO states before handing his powers over to the Belarusian successor in May 2020. The heads of CSTO member states failed to settle the problem leaving the final decision to the upcoming St Petersburg meeting on December 6th 2018.

Things got even worse for Armenia when President Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus discussed with the Azerbaijani ambassador on November 12th 2018 the issue of appointing a Belarusian representative to the post of CSTO Secretary General – despite the fact that Azerbaijan is not a member of this military organisation. Referring to the political situation in Armenia, Lukashenka stated that Nikol Pashinyan, Armenias’s prime minister, first needed to stabilise Armenia’s domestic situation in order to cope with CSTO and matters of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and went on to say that Belarus had three candidates for the CSTO chairmanship.

In the face of such developments Pashinyan told the media on November 16th that he would demand explanations from the Belarusian and Kazakh leaders for their controversial statements and violations of prior agreements. Pashinyan seemed surprised by the fact that Lukashenka disclosed to the Azerbaijani ambassador the details of a closed-door session of the military alliance. According to him, Nazarbayev also announced a Belarusian turn for the CSTO top position after the session although no consensus-based decision had been made.

The official reaction from Minsk was prompt and tough, when the spokesperson of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry commented on November 17th that “apparently, the acting prime minister of Armenia thinks he is an international prosecutor authorised to punish or pardon. Perhaps this was acceptable in the case of the former CSTO Secretary General, Armenian citizen Yuri Khachaturov. But in interstate relations there are quite clear rules of protocol and etiquette. Pashinyan has not yet realised that the rules of ‘street democracy’ are not acceptable in big politics.”

The situation was exacerbated further by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Minsk shortly after, on November 19th. During the visit, Aliyev and Lukashenka reportedly discussed the CSTO summit and signed agreements on the purchase of more weaponry from Belarus. “In the shortest possible time it will be transformed into a contract to purchase another consignment of military equipment from Belarus,” Aliyev said following his meeting with Lukashenka. “It is no coincidence that military technical co-operation between our countries has a long history. It is characterised by big volumes and a good trend towards expansion.”

This is not the first time that Armenia has been alienated by its formal allies. Even before Pashinyan, Armenia under the previous leadership of Serzh Sargsyan had undergone hard times with its EEU and CSTO allies.

In his response to Yerevan’s EEU membership bid at the Astana summit in May 2014, Nazarbayev publicly stated that the EEU’s accession treaty with Armenia must be valid only within Armenia’s internationally recognised borders and not encompass Nagorno-Karabakh, citing a letter from his Azerbaijani counterpart, Aliyev.

However, a more serious blow to Armenia’s foreign policy came during Azerbaijani-Armenian clashes (also known as Four-Day War) in April 2016, when Yerevan found itself abandoned even by its formal allies. They expressed their support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The Belarusian ambassador was therefore summoned to Armenia’s foreign ministry to be informed that Yerevan was “deeply bewildered” by the statements coming out of Minsk. A planned summit of the EEU in Yerevan was cancelled after Kazakhstan, one of the bloc’s member-states, refused to attend in an apparent show of support for Azerbaijan. Although the Russian authorities formally called on both sides to end the hostilities, Russian sales of arms to Azerbaijan sparked a public outrage in Armenia. As anti-Kremlin sentiment grew in Armenia, mass rallies were organised in Yerevan against Russia.

It is no surprise that then-president Sargsyan also complained that his CSTO allies were more sympathetic to Azerbaijan than to Armenia: “Every time that Azerbaijan’s armed forces use small arms of all calibres, mortars and artillery against the Republic of Armenia, they are firing at Astana, Dushanbe and Bishkek, at Moscow and Minsk.”

The recent Khachaturov affair and its aftermath refocused attention on Armenia’s vulnerable position in the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

With Azerbaijan’s active foreign policy vis-a-vis individual CSTO member states, Armenia now looks to be an outlier in the military organisation. All CSTO member countries, except Armenia, are interested in increasing trade with Azerbaijan and acknowledge the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Russia and Belarus eagerly sell arms to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and Belarus actively support Azerbaijan’s attempts to restore its territorial integrity.

Although the CSTO signifies a security guarantee and military aid (in the form of discounted weapons) and therefore can be seen as an essential factor in holding Azerbaijan from taking back Nagorno-Karabakh (which legally belongs to Azerbaijan) by force, this regional bone of contention remains outside CSTO jurisdiction which means the organisation cannot formally back Armenia in case of another military conflict within Nagorno-Karabakh.

Having fewer options and little room for manoeuvre, Armenia has found itself in a trap, unable to make serious changes in its foreign policy. Alienated by its allies from time to time, especially in key episodes and uneasy times, Yerevan cannot make a turn to the West either because of its close ties to Russia and Russian-dominated structures. These are cemented by a Russian military base in Armenia and hostile relations with both Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Rusif Huseynov is the co-founder of the Topchubashov Research Center. He studied international relations Baku State University and the University of Tartu. His main interest is peace and conflict studies while his focus area covers mainly Eastern Europe, Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia.

Azerbaijani press: Nakhchivan’s traditional group dances included in UNESCO list (PHOTO)

Jalatian Sonya
28 November 2018 13:09 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28

Trend:

Yalli (Kochari, Tenzere), traditional group dances of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, have been included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, reads a joint statement by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture and the Foreign Ministry.

This decision was made at the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held Nov. 26-Dec. 1 in the capital of Mauritius, Port Louis.

The document on this nomination was presented with the joint cooperation of Azerbaijan’s Culture Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Permanent Delegation of Azerbaijan to UNESCO.

The mentioning of namely Nakhchivan in the document is aimed at promoting on a global scale the traditional culture and folk art of the population living in this ancient historical region of Azerbaijan, and at the same time is aimed at protecting these traditions at the UNESCO level, reads the statement.

Also, just like in cases with other cultural heritage nominations of Azerbaijan, Armenian provocative attempts regarding the nomination of Yalli (Kochari, Tenzere) traditional group dances of Nakhchivan were suppressed, the statement said.

In anticipation of the session, the relevant state bodies of Azerbaijan conducted the necessary work, and during the session, the Azerbaijani delegation gave a worthy response in this regard to the Armenian side.

Besides, the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has included the art of crafting and playing kamancha (a bowed string musical instrument), the tradition of cooking and serving dolma (meat and spiced rice wrapped in vine or cabbage leaves), the performance of Azerbaijani mugham (a folk musical composition), the tradition of cooking and serving lavash (a soft, thin unleavened flatbread).

The list also included Azerbaijan’s Lahij copper craft, ashig art (combines poetry, storytelling and traditional instrumental music), Novruz holiday, the art of carpet weaving, kelaghayi (traditional Azerbaijani women’s headgear), the art of playing tar (stringed musical instrument), while Chovqan, the traditional Karabakh horse-riding game, has been included in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

All this was done with the support of Azerbaijan’s first vice-president, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador Mehriban Aliyeva, who has a crucial role in developing cooperation with UNESCO, preserving and promoting the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan on a global scale.


Azerbaijani press: Dede Gorgud’s heritage included in UNESCO list

Emil Lazarian
28 November 2018 21:44 (UTC+04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28

Trend:

The “Dede Gorgud’s heritage: a file on culture, folk legends and music” by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey was included in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the 13th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in Port Louis, Mauritius, according to a joint statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The “Dede Gorgud’s heritage: a file on culture, folk legends and music” promotes unity, equality and diversity in Azerbaijan, Turkey and Kazakhstan, as well as the values of family, women’s role in society, hospitality and justice.

Armenian provocative attempts regarding the nomination of Yalli (Kochari, Tenzere) traditional group dances of Nakhchivan were suppressed, the statement said.

The Azerbaijani delegation pointed out the inadmissibility of the Armenian side’s non-constructive and irrelevant position.

With the support of the First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and ISESCO Mehriban Aliyeva, the “Dede Gorgud’s heritage: a file on culture, folk legends and music”, the art of crafting and playing kamancha, the tradition of cooking and serving dolma, the performance of Azerbaijani mugham (a folk musical composition), the tradition of cooking and serving lavash, Lahij copper craft, ashig art, Novruz holiday, the art of carpet weaving, tar performance, and kalaghayi art have been included to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, as well as, Chovgan, a traditional team game on Karabakh horses, and Yalli (Kochari, Tenzere), traditional group dances of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic have been included to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.


Turkish press: Dutch church holds 24/7 mass for a month to shield asylum-seeking family from deportation

Ani Basmajian
DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL
Published7 hours ago

Stock photo via Pixabay

Related Articles
  • TurkeyDenmark set to deport Turkish mother of 3   
  • EuropeItaly may close airports to German migrant deportations   

A Protestant church in The Hague has been conducting non-stop religious services for nearly a month to prevent an Armenian asylum-seeking family from being deported from the Netherlands.

Bethel International Church took the decision to protect the family since the police officers in the Netherlands are forbidden by law from entering places of worship while services are in progress, according to the report from Quartz website.

In order to support the church’s initiative, clergy and devotees have been coming to the church from across the country.

The Tamrazyan family fled Armenia in 2009 after they were targeted for their political views and sought asylum in the Netherlands. After seven years of the application process, a judge granted asylum to the family. However, the Dutch government later overturned the decision.

The family also applied for a “children’s pardon,” a policy that allows refugee families with children who have resided in the Netherlands for more than five years to obtain a permit to stay, but their application was denied.

The Armenian family was living in an asylum shelter in southern Holland’s Katwijk province for two years when they learned in September that their asylum status had been lifted. After the deportation order, they decided to seek shelter in a church and ended up in a Protestant congregation where they were welcomed and protected.

The church authorities said they are waiting for the Ministry of Immigration to reverse the decision.

The rise of the far-right in the Netherlands, along with the rest of Europe, has allowed for an increase in anti-immigrant and anti-minority rhetoric in Dutch politics as well as in the mainstream media.

Every year, thousands of reports of attacks targeting minority groups are documented by Dutch police. According to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the highest number of hate crimes in the past five years was recorded in 2014 at 5,721. Only 133, or about 2 percent, of these incidents were prosecuted. In 2017, police recorded 3,499 hate crimes, and 331, or 9 percent, were prosecuted.

Verelq: I am here to say a word of gratitude on behalf of the Armenian people. the president visited the Red Cross

Talar Tumanian
  • 28.11.2018

    •  

  • Armenia:

    •  

  • arm

    •  

  • rus

1
 50

The President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sargsyan with his wife Nune Sargsyan visited the headquarters of the German Red Cross Organization in Berlin on the evening of November 27.


The German Red Cross, which provides humanitarian assistance around the world in areas affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts, began operations in Armenia immediately after the 1988 Spitak earthquake. The organization actively participated in both rescue operations and provided extensive and multifaceted support to the earthquake-affected population in cooperation with the Armenian Red Cross Society.


President Armen Sarkissian had a meeting with Gerda Hasselfeldt, president of the German Red Cross, to thank the Armenian people for extending a friendly hand of help in that difficult phase.


At the meeting with the organization’s employees, the President of the Republic, speaking about the severe consequences of the catastrophic earthquake that occurred 30 years ago, the loss of life, and the large population left homeless, noted:


“All this is very sad and tragic. But in these 30 years, there is also a very human, warm story. A story about the lack of human love, care, attention and indifference. We Armenians living in Armenia and all over the world will never forget the warmth, attention and human attitude that our friends from all over the world and also from this wonderful country showed to Armenia and the Armenian people. I want you to be sure that there is that deep gratitude and respect in the heart of every Armenian. These are not just pretty words. I was recently in Gyumri, and I noticed that gratitude not only among the older generation, but also among those who are young, who did not see the earthquake with their own eyes, but the history is in them and they also carry the gratitude that their parents passed on. So, I am here to say words of thanks not only on behalf of myself, but also on behalf of the entire Armenian people.”


During the event, President Sargsyan handed over state awards and souvenirs of the Republic of Armenia to a number of employees of the German Red Cross. Johannes Richter, Deputy Secretary General of the German Red Cross, was awarded with the Mkhitar Heratsi medal, Siegfried Hetmannsperger and Karl-Heinz Scheide, representatives of the German Red Cross, with the Medal of Gratitude for their active participation in the elimination of the consequences of the catastrophic earthquake in Spitak and tireless charity work.


Addressing the president of the organization, Gerda Hasselfeldt, President Sargsyan asked to convey his words of thanks to the thousands of participants of the German Red Cross, to all those who invest their time, life and love to overcome someone else’s difficulties.


At the end of the event, Gerda Hasselfeldt, the President of the German Red Cross, handed over the 10,000 euro donation receipt for the repair works of the “Berlin” polyclinic in Gyumri to the wife of the Armenian President, Nune Sargsyan.


President Sargsyan thanked for the donation and added that he will also donate the same amount to the repair of Gyumri “Berlin” polyclinic, as an expression of true friendship between the two peoples and an opportunity to carry out larger works.

Verelq: Pre-election programs. ի՞նչ տեսլականներ ունեն քաղաքական ուժերը

Tatoyan Vazgen
  • 28.11.2018

    •  

  • Armenia:

    •  

  • arm

1
 51

11 political forces have published their pre-election programs for the extraordinary RA NA elections, which they should present to RA citizens and debate with their competitors over the next two weeks.


The program of the Republican Party of Armenia was fully presented on their pre-election website. According to the preface, the RPA emphasizes that after the change of power, the new government not only does not fulfill the promises made to the people, not only does not ensure the development of Armenia’s economy, the increase in the level of well-being of compatriots, does not strengthen the security of Armenia and Artsakh and the international ranking of our country, but also causes many new concerns and aggravates the situation inside and around Armenia with its incompetent activities.


“In the current situation, we consider it our political and civic duty to voice our concerns, to speak directly and directly about the mistakes and omissions of the new government, which can become fatal for the statehood of Armenia and the future of Artsakh,” the program states. RPA lists why they should be elected.


“We have history, knowledge and experience, we know and have accepted our mistakes, we are ready to serve the Motherland.”


In the pre-election program “My Step” alliance states that in the next five years their activities will be aimed at realizing an economic revolution, to achieve which the continuous increase in the security level of RA and the Republic of Artsakh, the international recognition of Artsakh’s right to self-determination, the encouragement of work and investments, overcoming poverty through work and education, ensuring the rule of law, the continuous increase in welfare and the continuous increase in the efficiency of public spending are of key importance.


The alliance’s pre-election program states that not only the continuous increase in the combat capability of the Armed Forces, special services and the diplomatic corps, but also the growth of the population of Armenia, is of primary importance for the national security of the Republic of Armenia, according to which the population of the Republic of Armenia should double in the next 20 years. “My step” considers the cessation of visible emigration from RA, the initiation of a smooth process of repatriation of Armenians representing the old and new diaspora to RA, and the increase in birth rate as the most important means of solving this problem.


The pre-election program of the “My Step” alliance, which is considered the favorite of the election campaign, states that the implementation of any program for the settlement of the Artsakh issue is possible only with the restoration of the status of Artsakh as a full party to the negotiations, without whose consent any option for the settlement of the issue cannot be considered de jure.


In the field of foreign policy, the steps of “My step” will be aimed at establishing neighborly, mutually beneficial relations with all states and giving a new breath.


“The basis of our steps in the implementation of foreign policy will be the protection of the collective interest of the people of Armenia, Diaspora Armenians, as well as the protection of the rights and interests of each individual citizen and legal entity. The international reputation of Armenia and any achievement in the international arena belongs to the citizen of the Republic of Armenia, and the dignity of the Armenian in relations with other peoples and the pride for his country will be the overarching goal of all our steps,” says the “My Step” program.


“Armenian Revolutionary Federation” in the program, it emphasizes that it is a pan-Armenian force, has its own vision of the future, has a clear value system derived from the essence of the people, has an organizational structure and control mechanism to realize its goals.


“Prosperous Armenia” the party presented an election program including 36 steps, where it is stated that the political revolution should be followed by the economic one. 


“Bright Armenia” The party’s program states that the goal of the LAP is to build a progressive, modern political system that contributes to the dynamic development of society in RA, to contribute to the development of effective directions of public policy expressing the interests of citizens, the formation of democratic representative institutions and the provision of prerequisites for their development.


“Bright Armenia” party will promote, initiate and implement reforms with its flexibility aimed at:


1. ensuring the necessary prerequisites for the establishment of a social, legal and democratic state,
2. to the stable, proportionate development of the state and society, as well as civil society and its separate elements,
3. for the individual, through self-realization and development, to ensure the foundations of a happy life,
the development and application of a strategy with operational, systematic and consolidated principles in relation to security issues,
4. the development and implementation of the components of the national value system, including culture, traditions, language thinking, preservation and development of cultural heritage,
to the recovery of the economic system through the introduction and implementation of mechanisms with liberal ideas,
5. the study of socio-economic problems in the country and the introduction of new mechanisms for solving them,
6. the elimination of the shadow economy and the implementation of an effective anti-monopoly policy,
7. the creation of a competitive economic system and the necessary environment for job creation,
8. overcoming poverty and reducing social polarization,
development and implementation of demographic policy (birth rate increase, creation of necessary conditions for immigration and reduction of emigration).


“we” He has not yet published the full pre-election program of the alliance, but before that he announced at the press conference that he considers himself an alternative to the “My Step” alliance in terms of foreign policy in the upcoming elections. The alliance plans to make significant changes in foreign policy.


“Citizen’s Decision” the social-democratic party has not announced an election program yet, despite the start of the campaign, but until then they emphasize that the citizen of Armenia should not be the consumer of politics. The citizen of Armenia should be the one who decides and dictates the policy.


Christian-folk revival the party did not publish its pre-election program, but instead presented it at the convened press conference. “We offer a different model of RA economic development: moderate liberalism. We should be able to protect our domestic producer.” According to the Christian-People’s Revival Party, the foreign policy of the Republic of Armenia should be based exclusively on a pro-Armenian position and an Armenian-centric policy.


“The foreign policy of RA should be implemented within the framework of this logic of thinking, based on national-state interests, international law, interaction with states and international structures, alliance and neighborly relations,” the party members say.


“Sasna Tsrer” pan-Armenian party in 2018 He imagines the National Assembly formed by the extraordinary elections of December 9 as a transitional parliament, which, operating for about two years, can provide conditions and prerequisites for the creation of a national state and its rapid development.


The “National Progress” party proposes a number of changes in the education and social spheres with its pre-election program. Although the pre-election program was not announced, it was presented at the press conference. “We plan to depoliticize school management councils, and we emphasize the formation of the middle class for significant changes in the social sphere. The motto of our party is “New situation, new solutions”.


In the political field, we are trying to advance not individuals, but ideology. We have a package of social reforms. We are trying to bring new solutions in line with the new situation,” said Hayk Grigoryan, the press spokesman of the party.


The pre-election program of “Orinats Yerkir” party consists of 50 steps. 50 steps of the pre-election program of the “Land of Laws” party that will change Armenia, 50 programs that will guarantee the development and security of our people, 50 goals that will ensure law, justice and well-being,” the OEK program states before moving on to the foundations.